It’s July so that means the Romance Writers of America have a conference and it moves to different cities each year. This year it’s in San Antonio, TX. Yup, Texas, in the middle of the summer. Holy blazing hot, folks. But I’m an Atlantan so I’m tough and I’ll just have to deal. But I’ll righteously limit the wearing o’the pantyhose to only very important occasions. I’m no fool. It promises to be a good time: I’m presenting a Social Media workshop with Tyra Burton and two of my books are finalists for five awards.

I’ve attended these conferences since 2002, back when I was self-published. At that point it was considered the kiss of death to be an indie author. Now? Not so much. In fact, the programming tracks now have an increasing number of panels devoted to self-publishing, sometimes at the expense of traditional publishing.

Unlike some authors, I don’t take sides. I’m a “hybrid” author, meaning I’m both self and traditionally pubbed. Either way works for me as long as my readers can buy my books and I can make a decent living. Unfortunately, right now there are flame wars going on between the two sides, which is pretty stupid. Actually very stupid. It doesn’t matter how the books arrives in your readers’ hands, just that it does.
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And with that, I’ll go back to sorting through my clothes, whining about having to wear pantyhose and gearing up for the conference. I’ll issue a report on the flip side. Hope you’re enjoying your summer!

I am not a native Georgian — I was born and raised in Iowa, home to awesome people, real dirt, corn, pigs, sheep and a lot of good memories. But for the last 17 years I’ve been in Georgia so that *almost* makes me a resident.
I live outside Atlanta (OTP — that acronym will make sense in a minute) and venture downtown a few times a year. Usually by the train system, which I actually like. Which is one of the reasons I set the Demon Trappers series in this city.

But for those of you who haven’t been to Atlanta and only know a few tidbits about the place (yes, this is one of the towns General Sherman burnt during the Civil War) here’s a fun article to tell you all about it. Or at least 21 words that mean something different in my town than in yours.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/robfranklin/words-that-have-a-totally-different-meaning-in-atlanta
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*True Confession Time – Being from Iowa, I drink Pepsi because I think Coke isn’t that good. Coupled with my dislike of Georgia’s most favorite book (Margaret Mitchell’s GONE WITH THE WIND) I’m skirting treason down here.